At least 20 people were killed and more than 50 injured after a car bomb exploded outside a bank in Lashkar Gah, capital of the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Thursday.

The dead and injured civilians, members of the security forces who were waiting at the bank to collect their pay and staff of the New Kabul Bank branch, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but insurgent groups, including the Taliban and Islamic State have in the past targeted banks where police, soldiers and other government employees collect their pay.

Further details are awaited.

The Helmand province campaign was a series of military operations conducted by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

US soldiers from the Marine Corps have returned to Taliban stronghold of Afghanistan's Helmand province in April 2017 nearly three years after the U.S.-led NATO forces ended combat mission in the country.